Learning Poetry is for losers

A couple of weeks ago, at work, one one of my older and wiser colleagues, started talking about learning poetry. He was telling it to 4 of us.

A.C. told us about the importance of learning poetry, especially if you're no longer a school student. Nowadays, learning poetry is often associated with school. You have to memorize it before the exam, tell it to your professor and that's it. Well done! A ! Why was my colleague so persistent in his argument? He was talking about a poem written by Salvatore Quasimodo, "Alle fronde dei salici". Among the verses, there is a story about lives of Italian people during the WWII.

Intrigued by the poem, I decided to make it a personal challenge and to get more information about it over the weekend.

On Sunday night, before bed, I spent about an hour learning more about Salvatore Quasimodo and his poem. I managed to memorize it.

The day after, I surprised my colleague by reciting the poem. I was very excited that I've learned something new. His reaction was, "Wow!" He didn't expect that at all. My colleagues neither. They teased me because I spent an hour of my time on Sunday evening on learning a poem. They suggested I should've done something else instead. They teased me the whole day because what I did was "for losers".

That made me think a lot about it. Why do I consider what I did a very cool thing and they don't? Regardless, I'm very proud of myself and don't care about them.

My next homework is "Adelchi" by Manzoni.

Thanks a lot A.C. for your inspiration.